Carnivorans have extremely heavy representation despite only encompassing about 40 species each for cats and dogs (about 280 species in total). Ungulates are a huge group of nearly 150 species for antelope alone, and nearly 380 species total (not including domesticated animals, which behaviourally work better in petting zoos than carnivorans) in a wide variety of habitats and ecological niches. Non-ape monkeys are in a similar boat, but with even worse representation in-game than ungulates. And then there's birds, an entire class of animal with over 10,000 species have just 12 representatives in-game.
Magnitude is the main difference between a 10th dog and a 13th bird. This isn't Nintendogs, and shouldn't be either. Zoos work to promote biodiversity, and having lots of diverse animal groups like birds, other reptiles, primates, and ungulates is a great way to do that. Having all the dogs? Not so much.
It wouldn't be all dogs and cats if it was a carnivore pack. There's actually 16 different families in Carnivora. 3 are the Canidae, Felidae, and Ursidae (our cats, dogs, and bears which have many species in the game already. Then the Red Panda in its own family Ailuridae. And finally the hyenas Hyaenidae which we have 2 out of the 4 species of so are all represented. So that's 3 + 1 + 1= 5 families which good representation, so that leaves 9 carnivora families. But the Nandinidae family includes only the rather obscure African Palm Civet as the only family member and Prionodontidae is only the 2 species of Asiatic lingsangs which are also extremely obscure. Euperidae only readily recognizable animals to the general public is the fossa because of the movie Madagascar and we already have the fossa, and Mephitidae is the skunks which we already have the mainly recognized one, the striped skunk, but a Spotted Skunk could possibly be added as the second most well-known skunk but isn't super necessary because it isn't much different from the Striped Skunk other than markings. So of our 9 families left, the families with only super obscure animals left are Nandinidae (1) + Prionodontidae (2) + Euperidae (3) + Mephitidae(4)= 9-4=5 unique Carnivora families left that could have more animals added to them.
Kinkajou pictured
We do have raccoons for Procyonidae but Kinkajous and the more obscure Olingo are extremely different and unique animals from raccoons even though they are from the same family and then there's the ringtails and coati which are a little bit more similar to raccoons but have some difference like the small size and slightly more weasel-like appearance of the ringtail and the funny long nose of the coati. I think olingo are probably too obscure an animal to be included but coatis are an extremely popular wanted animal, and kinkajous are fairly well-known as exotic pets and ambassador animals at educational shows/private birthdays parties, etc. which regardless of one's personal ethical opinions on exotic pets and/or animal entertainment shows, means the kinkajou should also be fairly well-known/recognizable to the general public. The ringtail is less obscure than the olingos but probably not too well-known outside of the desert/ Southwestern North America environments.
Black-footed Ferret Pictured
For Mustelidae, we do have otters and wolverines, but we have no actual small weasels like a marten/sable species, polecat species, stoat/ermine species, mink species, or any of the many species that simply have "weasel" in the common name. There's also the Endangered Black-footed ferret (the only wild species of ferret, although I guess technically it would be a type of polelcat) which was thought to be extinct before it was rediscovered by a dog that caught one and brought it back to its humans. And the famous "Honey Badger Don't Care" meme animal, the Honey Badger is part of Mustelidae as well so very well-known.
Small Indian Mongoose pictured
For Herpestidae, we have only the meerkat but could use a more generic mongoose species. The only one I would personally avoid is the Banded Meerkat because it looks kind of similar to meerkats. And also super weird looking mongoose like Kusimanse species. But I think any species that would fit the generic mongoose look like the Egyptian Mongoose, Yellow Mongoose, Indian Grey Mongoose, Small Indian Mongoose, just as some examples, would be received well by the general public since we have the well-known story of Riki-Tiki-Tavi the famous mongoose who saved his family from a snake. Can you imagine how cool it be if they came with a snake-shaped enrichment toy that they could shake around and "fight" as well?
Common genet pictured
For Viverridae, we have the Binturong but it's very different from every other member of its family look-wise. The family also includes civets, genets, and oyan. Oyan are super obscure so wouldn't be good for the game but the African Civet is somewhat decently known at least by people familiar with African wildlife / people that live in African countries and the Common Genet is a popular exotic pet so is even better known than civets. If we're going off of conservation value for including species, there's also a number of civets that are endangered like the Owston's Palm Civet, Otter Civet (which also has the adorable factor, although some might see it as another otter because of appearance even though it's not in the otter family), and the Banded Palm Civet is Near Threatened. While not endangered, the Large Indian Civet might be well-known to many players from Asian countries and has conservation value because it has been poached for medicine and perfume made from its musk glands.
Hawiian Monk Seal pictured
For Phocidae (earless seals), we have the Grey Seal but there's no Southern hemisphere seals, the best candidates of which would be the Leopard Seal and/or the Southern Elephant Seal and there is no monk seal which the Hawaiian Monk seal is Endangered so could be good a candidate but the Mediterranean Monk seal is also Vulnerable so would work as well and either species could also mention something about their Carribean Monk seal relatives that were hunted to extinction to raise awareness of animals going extinct in modern history. The Harp seal is not only a good Arctic rep seal but I believe also the kind of seal pups that are featured in those sad videos of people clubbing baby seals to d**th so that could be brought up as a conservation concern in an educational way as a threat to the species.
Galapagos Fur Seal pictured
Then we have Otariidae (Eared seals), including sea lions and fur seals. We already have a sea lion but we don't have a fur seal. Some good choices for that could be the Galapagos Fur Seal (Endangered), Northern Fur Seal (Endangered), New Zealand Fur Seal (just because it's a well-known/recognizable species even though its least concern), or the South American Fur Seal (just because it's South American and we need more South American animals in the game).
Finally, last but not least, we have Odobenidae, whose only surviving member is the popularly requested walrus.
Darwin's "Fox" (false fox from South America more closely related to wolves than true foxes) pictured
As for cats, dogs, and bears, I will admit that the North American black bear would really add nothing to the game conservation or unique-wise but there's still cats and dogs that can fill those niches. I absolutely do not really want 4th fox if another canid does come to the game as we already have 3 foxes, except unless it's the Near Threatened Island Fox which is very similar to the commonly requested Least concern Gray Fox but has more conservation value because it's Near Threatened and Endemic to islands. I would also accept any of the South American false "foxes" that are distantly related to true foxes and actually more closely related to wolves, such as the Crab-eating Fox, Culpeo, Pampas Fox, South American Grey Fox/Chilla, Darwin's Fox (Endangered and Endemic to Chile), the Sechuran Fox (Near Threatened, found in only Ecuador and Peru), and the Hoary Fox (Near Threatened and Endemic to Brazil). Just to be clear, I'm not saying all of those should be in the game. I'm saying that if we get another fox it should be either Island Gray Fox or one of the South American false "foxes".
Red Wolf vs Coyote appearance image
However, I'd much rather a third wolf than a 4th fox. Technically both wolves we have are Grey Wolves. 2 species of wolf that could be included in the game and have high conservation value are the Ethiopian Wolf and the Red Wolf. Yes, the Ethiopian Wolf is not found in captivity because Ethiopia doesn't allow export of them but they are Endangered and having them in the game could help the general public become aware of their existence and the threats they face. The Red Wolf is nearly extinct in the wild with less than 20 individuals and has less than 300 in captivity:
2024-2025 Release Plan available NOW...click HERE!
- Taxon: Mammal
- Range: Eastern North Carolina
- Status: First listed as “threatened with extinction” under the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 in 1967. Currently listed as an "endangered species" under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
- Population estimate as of February 2025:
- Known/collared (wild): 16
- Total estimate (wild): 17-19
- Red Wolf SAFE (captive): 270
Quote Source: Red Wolf Recovery Program US Fish and Wildlife Service
Red Wolf Recovery Program 2024-2025 Release Plan available NOW...click HERE! Canis rufus Taxon: Mammal Range: Eastern North Carolina
www.fws.gov
They also suffer threats of losing protection because of people arguing that they aren't a real species but just a grey wolf-coyote hybrid or the only slightly better argument that they are just another subspecies of Gray Wolf since subspecies still get some protection, but hybrids don't. The ones in the wild have faced high mortality from vehicles and threats of hunters mistaking them for coyotes during times when night hunting of coyotes is allowed.
Golden Jackal Pictured
However, what I really want is a jackal or coyote even over another wolf because we don't have any canids that fit that niche in the game. They are all least concern though as far as conservation values go but so are many other animals. And remember, this is a game, not a real zoo. People can make any kind of wildlife facility they want. We already have raccoons, red foxes, and skunks. If I wanted to make a zoo with only native animals like raccoons, foxes, skunks, and coyotes, I could pretend like it's a wildlife rehab center and those are the non-releasable ambassador animals for example. There's no rule that we have to make a traditional style zoo or even a realistic zoo in the game such as only having animals actually found in captivity. As for jackals, the Golden Jackal would give a Eurasian large canid since many European players see the Timber Wolf as representing only North American subspecies of wolf even though I personally just see it as a generic Grey Wolf and am not sure why Frontier didn't just call it Grey Wolf.
Short-eared Dog pictured
If you're looking for oddball canids that aren't like anything already in the game, Bush Dogs (Near Threatened and from South America), Tanuki, and the Short-eared Dog (a Near Threatened South American species) fit the bill.
Chinese Mountain Cat (a wild cat that looks like a domestic cat) pictured
For cats, there are endangered ones like the Bay Cat, Andean Mountain Cat, Flat-headed Cat, Near Threatened ones like the Asian Golden Cat, Marbled Cat, Margay, Pampas Cat, Rusty-Spotted Cat, and quite a few Vulnerable species like the African Golden Cat, Kod Kod, Oncilla, Southern Tigrina, Fishing Cat, Black-footed Cat, Chinese Mountain Cat, Iberian Lynx, and Sunda Clouded Leopard (which is apparently a different species from the Clouded Leopard).
For weird/ unusual/ odd ball cats some that fit the bill are:
Jaguarundi:
Bay Cat:
Flat-headed Cat:
Then we have the "missing" popular cats: Ocelot, Bobcat, Canda Lynx, Serval, and to lesser degree, Iberian Lynx, the Margay, Fishing Cat, and European Wildcat.
Margay:
European Wildcat:
